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Heinrich Wagner vs Ludwig Rellstab
"Rellstab in the Dark" (game of the day Sep-04-2004)
Swinemuende (1930), Swinemuende GER, rd 4, Jun-25
Alekhine Defense: Modern. Alburt Variation (B04)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
May-07-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Chessical: Can you actually play <5...h6> here and survive?

The database says that "there are no games similar to this one in the database", and after what Wagner did to him you can see why Rellstab may have had little appetite to return to this variation - a theme on Götterdämmerung?

After <22.Qe5+> Kh7 23.Nh3 Qh4 24.Re7+ consumes him in flames.

Jun-15-04  mymt: 7...Ke6 8.c4 Nb6 9.d5+ Kd7 [...Kxe5 10.Qf4#]10.e6+ Ke8 11.Qf7# - "Wining Chess Traps" by Irving Chernev.This book also has a great collection of traps for both sides of the Ruy Lopez.[52 traps]
Jul-26-04  vonKrolock: A remarkable Wagner performance, regardless that 5...h6 appears as a serious opening fault: well after 8...exf6, there's nothing ill in Black's position than the dislocated phalanx f6-g6-h6... the game follows a logical path till 18,c4! - Then we could not blame Rellstab for overlooking 20.Re8!!, a stroke that blasts his defenses like a whole philharmonic 'tutti' chord... (to find a reasonable alternative to 18...dxc4 would require, say, a supernatural defensive skill...)
Sep-04-04  JustAFish: This feels like a 19th century game played with a 20th century opening.
Sep-04-04  thermal: I liked Wagner's play, giving Rellstab choices on what to lose. Turns out he ended up just losing the game by quiting, but at least he still managed to keep his queen and rook! (sarcasm)
Sep-04-04  hotelriver: why cant the queen take the rook?
Sep-04-04  VStrider: <hotelriver> cause if 20...Qxe8 then 21.Nh5+ Kh7 22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.Nxe8+ and the black queen is gone.
Sep-04-04  kevin86: Not a bad one here. This is an old style king side attack--and it still works here.
Sep-04-04  GufeldStudent: I believe h6 was a huge error. Much better was either Nb6, c6, or---possibly best---dxe5.
Sep-04-04  patzer2: Even though Kasparov and Keene in BCO indicate White can get an even game with 5. Ng5 in this Alekhine line, I think Black might actually get the better of it with 5...c6! as in Ljubojevic vs Tal, 1988 and Qi Jingxuan vs Timman, 1985 and Igor Ivanov vs A Kakageldyev, 1979 and R Bogdanovic vs Kavalek, 1967.

Black also does OK with 5...dxe5 (assessed as equal to unclear by BCO) as in R Altshuler vs Berliner, 1965 and W Stern vs Berliner, 1965.

Perhaps worth considering is 5...f6 as in Krogius vs Korchnoi, 1958 and J Penrose vs Cafferty, 1968. BCO indicates that the play in O'Kelly vs Golombek, 1950 demonstrates that 5...f6 gives White a clear advantage. Yet the fact that Korchnoi and Caferty later employed it for a draw makes me wonder if it might be better than its reputation.

In any event, any of these three moves is preferable to 5...h6? 6. Nxf7! in this game.

Sep-04-04  patzer2: 20. Re8!! makes powerful use of deflection to gain a decisive positional advantage. Note that if 20...Qxe8?? 21. Nh5+ Kh7 22. Nf6+ wins the Queen due to the Pin and Knight Fork.

And declining the 20. Re8!! sacrifice gives White an overwhelming position, as indicated in the game continuation.

Sep-04-04  patzer2: <VonKrolock> Black is busted after 18. f4! and 18...dxc4? only hastens his defeat. If his position is defensible after 8...exf6, then how could he have improved from moves 8 through 18?

Still seems to me that the opening blunder 5...h6? was a major contributor to his lost position.

Sep-05-04  vonKrolock: <patzer2> Right; when i said that <there's nothing ill in Black's position than the dislocated phalanx f6-g6-h6... the game follows a logical path till 18,c4!> in somewhat circumloquial style i was agreeing whith Your conclusion: Black is lost

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